Multistate licensing is the work of obtaining and keeping financial services licences in many US states at the same time, and it is managed mainly through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), which has its own main entry. The phrase describes the regulatory challenge, while NMLS is the platform that state regulators use to handle it.
In the United States, money transmission, consumer lending, mortgage lending and debt collection are licensed mainly at state level. A company that wants to serve customers nationwide may need a separate money transmitter licence in almost every state, each with its own net worth, surety bond and reporting requirements. NMLS lets the company file applications, renewals and changes once and send them to each state, and it holds the records of the company's owners and control persons.
State regulators have also tried to align their rules. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors runs a multistate examination programme and developed the Money Transmission Modernization Act, a model law many states have adopted to harmonise requirements.